Getting drafted by an NFL team is hard. Like, insanely hard.

Even seventh-rounders who are afterthoughts are in about the top one percent of all college players, and college players are in the top one percent of all high school players.

There’s another way to make it in the pros that’s even more difficult, and it’s one several former Warren County players are about to attempt.

Devon Bell, A.J. Stamps and Norman Price all signed free agent contracts with NFL teams this week. Bell signed with the Indianapolis Colts, Stamps with the Cleveland Browns and Price with the San Francisco 49ers.

All of them are in their respective teams’ rookie minicamps this week, hopeful for a future with no guarantees.

All Bell has to do to make the Colts’ roster is beat out either future Hall of Famer Adam Vinatieri for the kicking job or eight-year veteran Pat McAfee for the punter position. Bell’s best chance to stick might be if the Colts decide to keep a third person just to handle kickoff duties. The former Warren Central star had 33 touchbacks last season for Mississippi State.

Stamps, a former Vicksburg High star who went on to play at Kentucky, was projected as a late-round pick by some experts but wound up going undrafted. He’s one of more than a dozen defensive backs the Browns will take to training camp, and they’ll likely keep about half that number.

Price, another former VHS star who became a two-year starter at right tackle for Southern Miss, might have the best chance to make a roster. He’ll be part of a rebuilding 49ers team that’s shorthanded on the offensive line as of now.

All three players face an uphill climb, but they don’t have to look far for inspiration that it can be done.

Two years ago another Vicksburg native was little more than a line on the transaction blotter when he signed as an undrafted free agent in May. He worked hard, made an NFL roster with an outstanding training camp, and wound up helping the New England Patriots win the Super Bowl. Last season, Malcolm Butler was selected to what’s likely to be the first of many Pro Bowls.

Bell, Stamps and Price have the talent to follow in Butler’s footsteps. They could make Vicksburg the Undrafted Free Agent Capital of the World.

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Ernest Bowker is a sports writer for The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com